Brazil in the Making: Facets of National Identity

(Paperback)

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Description

This innovative volume traces Brazil's singular character, exploring both the remarkable richness and cohesion of the national culture and the contradictions and tensions that have developed over time. What shared experiences give its citizens their sense of being Brazilian What memories bind them together What metaphors and stereotypes of identity have emerged Which groups are privileged over others in idealized representations of the nation

The contributorsa multidisciplinary group of U.S. and Brazilian scholarsoffer a fresh look at questions that have been asked since the early nineteenth century and that continue to drive nationalist discourse today. Their chapters explore Brazilian identity through an innovative framework that brings in seldom-considered aspects of art, music, and visual images, offering a compelling analysis of how nationalism functions as a social, political, and cultural construction in Latin America.

Contributions by: Cristina Antunes, Dain Borges, Valria Costa e Silva, James Green, Efrain Kristal, Ludwig Lauerhass Jr., Cristina Magaldi, Elizabeth A. Marchant, Jos Mindlin, Carmen Nava, Jos Luis Passos, Robert Stam, and Valria Torres

Reviews

An important contribution to understanding Brazilian national identity. Nava and Lauerhass have put together an impressive collection of experts to explore the wide-ranging features of text, sights, facts, and sounds, which together make Brazilians unique. Anyone interested in Brazil should read this book. -- Edward Telles, University of California, Santa Barbara

Author Bio

Carmen Nava is associate professor of history at California State University, San Marcos. Ludwig Lauerhass Jr. is lecturer emeritus at the University of California, Los Angeles.